Contemplative music video for a morning meditation

Ran across this on You Tube. A prolific poster going by 10zen10 has created a music video with pretty bird images taken by photographer Daniel O’Byrne. It’s set to the music I helped create along with Craig Padilla and Zero Ohms a few years back, a piece called Realm of the Spirit, from the CD Beyond the Portal, released on the Lotuspike label. A nice meditation moment to begin the day today.

Interesting, how these video pieces using our music that turn up, unannounced. Released into the wild, the music finds it’s own path.

Relax -new old music

Horse, photographed by Erin Murphy
Way back in the ’90s, Chico DJ Ron Dare came to Dancing Astronaut Studio in Redding for a night of jamming. Craig Padilla laid down this track, while Ron and I played along. Ron had some kind of Korg synth, and spun this vinyl disc of spoken word relaxation of unknown origin. Recently I pulled this dusty recording out of the archive and juiced the levels a bit. I don’t see how we could ever release it, due to the fact we’d have no way to get permission to use the spoken word vinyl. But its a very pleasant track to hear, scratchy vinyl clicks and all. Quite relaxing. It brings back memories of DJ Ron Dare who hosted college radio at KCHO in Chico, with his Music for a New Age program Sunday nights. One of the very few places to hear our kind of music around here prior to the internet age. Good times. Thanks Craig and Ron.
Relax2011 by SkipMurphy

The Redding Warlocks

The Redding Warlocks seem to be a psychedelic style jam band playing out around here. Below, “Ale House Dub” is an oddly hypnotic video with an appropriate live soundtrack that was apparently recorded at Redding’s Ale House.

I like it. There’s more about this original local band at their Redding Warlocks Reverbnation page. But not much more. Looks like you’ll need to see them live. Check out the video they have titled “Six Crap Shootin’ Pall Bearers.” A disjointed night road trip done Redding style. Status: Symbiotic Cacophony Orchestra? Play on, Redding Warlocks.
Ale House in Redding CA

Manifestations -new unreleased old Redding music

Here’s another work from Craig Padilla that I performed with him back in the mid-1990s. I pulled this from the archives along with the piece I shared a few days ago, Snowfall. This Craig composition music is more symphonic electronica, although it builds gradually from a very spare rhythmic improvisation. It picks up with a perky bass line and breaks through with a very cinematic crescendo and overture. At 24 minutes long, it’s more typical of our work together at the time than the last piece. I adjusted the overall levels to conform to modern expectations of relative volume, but aside from that, it’s just like we played it around here back in ’94 or so. Very nice. Please enjoy. Music from Redding Ca
Manifestations2011 by SkipMurphy
Image of a Barn in Eastern Shasta County by Skip

Merle Haggard documentary gets a thumbs up

Palo Cedro resident Merle Haggard is the subject of this PBS documentary, available here. Below is an excerpt, but it leads you to the full version. Well worth your time.

Watch the full episode. See more American Masters.

Hag Fans are legion around here, but I admit I never got it. I first learned of Merle in the “Okie From Muskogee” years, which arguably isn’t his best work. Although he’s been a Shasta County local for a long time now, his music seems reflective of a style that was popularized elsewhere. This documentary changed my opinion, and gave me a new appreciation for Merle and his body of work. I intended to watch just a bit of it, but I found myself unable to stop until it ended. Kudos to the filmmaker, and to PBS for posting it. It’s given me a new-found appreciation that I never knew I could have in not only his line of work but the making of the documentary itself. I’m sure a lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone into this project, even the small things like using this DCP tool to edit the entirety of the film, as well as creating the sequence of ads that go before it. They should seriously think about showcasing it in small cinemas all over the country. It was that inspiring. You challenged my opinion, and expanded my appreciation for an artist with whom I had little familiarity. And a full blogger hat tip to Marc Beauchamp, who brought this film to my attention.

New old music – Snowfall

Redding artist Craig Padilla and I recorded this electro-ambient piece in 1994, or earlier, according to the sound file. It remained unfinished and “in the can” since then. More a sketch than anything else. I stumbled across it looking through some old material. Barely remembered. And wondered why it remains more or less unreleased. It’s a pleasant sketch, elaborated on today to just about 7 minutes. See what you think. Enjoy the snow on this sunny May day.
Snow in Redding CA 2010
Snowfall by SkipMurphy
Electro-Ambient music from the ’90s. It’s the indigenous music of ReallyRedding.

“Star Dive” at the State Theatre in Red Bluff

State Theatre in Red BluffCraig Padilla recently uploaded a video made at his benefit concert performed at the State Theatre in Red Bluff from 2000. The show was intended to benefit both the State Theatre restoration project and the Red Bluff Skateboard Park, which was fundraising. The video, Star Dive, is classic Craig, and is fun to see again. Along with Venita Philbrick and others, I helped Craig produce the stage show, and did some lighting and soundwork. The video brings back some fond memories. The music stands the test of time. It still sounds great.

At the time, the State Theatre was not much more than a building with seats. The rescued remains of an old movie house. The stage had no lighting. We built a small setup structure out of ABS pipe (yes, sewer pipe!), and put up our usual low-budget lightshow. I suggested to Craig that he wear all white, so as not to be lost on the dark stage in dim lighting. At the last minute, Craig was able to talk Morpheus Lighting of Redding into donating some lighting for the show, and it made a huge difference. The videographer, whose name I don’t recall, sorry, mixed in the effects and projected it onstage. Awesome in person. The show was well attended, and we later got a nice thank-you letter indicating that the Skatepark had been built, along with the donations of many others. It was very gratifying.

State of the art back then, it looks pretty retro now. Crank it up!

Today, I see the State Theatre is still under restoration. Learn more at the State Theatre Restoration project. It’s a worthwhile project. The Cascade Theatre in Redding was in similar condition, and it’s subsequent restoration has proven to be the cultural spark that fires up the old downtown. We hope the same for Red Bluff.

Cascade Theatre in Redding CA
The restored Cascade Theatre in Redding CA

Redding alt rockers Hollow Ln

Redding alt rock band Hollow LnHere’s a band performance image from the now closed Downtown Eatery. Hollow Ln is a Redding based (and Redding named) 3 piece outfit; guitar, bass, drum, and vocals. Tight, tight, tight, power trio originals are filled with thoughtful lyrics. Brandon Bausell works it hard on Vocals and Guitar. Nick Braun punctuates the tunes with insanely creative drumming. Not your 4 on the floor stuff! Max Bausell provides the solid basis for the often staccato melodies on Bass. Head over to Reverbnation and play their 12 well recorded demos all in a row. Awesome. Surprising. They’re playing Bombay’s March 23.